Gensokyo, Past and Present
by VentingNonsense
Summary: "Welcome to Gensokyo, Yuuka." Yakumo's smile is light, teasing, but her eyes are hard and cold, as if remembering something unpleasant. "Enjoy your stay." A rather different interpretation of the flower maiden.
1. The Border Between Mind and Voice

**Disclaimer:** If you don't understand Touhou, this story is not for you. The interpretations of the characters could theoretically be considered mine, but the characters belong to Team Shanghai Alice.

**Author's note:** This isn't actually the interpretation of Yuuka I like. I see her as a silly youkai who is kind but often underestimates her own strength. Canonically, she's rather playful (some would say sadistic) and unconcerned with other peoples' affairs. In her only Windows-based game, _Phantasmagoria of Flower View_, she's strong but slow. My interpretation of this is that she's just lazily strolling about, shooting harmless (or what she _thinks_ is harmless) danmaku at everyone teasingly while also enjoying the pleasant flowers; other interpretations are that she's just that slow, which I find hard to believe.

No matter your interpretation of Yuuka Kazami herself, _this is not that Yuuka._ It's an experiment, first and foremost, so I might not even continue this.

**Chapter One: The Border Between Mind and Voice**

"I don't get this," I mumble, for what must have been the fifteenth time in a minute. I turn the diagram over and frown. The map continues to evade my understanding. Finding this old map was a godsend; I'd always had a knack for finding treasures. In fact, I'd call it a secondary ability of mine, if it weren't for the fact that I don't often search for treasure in the first place.

Nor do I often get the chance to use it. I _am_ a mere gardener, after all, and that's what I like to do. I run my own gardening business, and it's not particularly well-paying, but it's what I enjoy, and I _do_ get an honest living out of it. Humble, and _very_ modest, but honest. (Ignoring the many knickknacks I find in the bushes I'm hired to maintain.) On the side, I also run a treasure hunting operation, although I outright refuse to take blatantly illegal jobs.

I just don't have the time to deal with the police.

"I don't get this," I mumble once more. "But this should be the right place…" I look up again at the decrepit shrine. The place, although creepy, unsettling, and _old_, didn't feel like it held any sort of treasure. But, according to the map, this was the place, and the location of this shrine was just off the road enough to be unscavenged by other hunters, which puts me in a rather hopeful mood.

"That depends on your definition of 'treasure'," I hear behind me. I jump and turn around frantically to come face to face with a young blonde woman.

Who seems to also be cut in half. And _floating_.

I desperately withhold the urge to shudder and instead cough politely. "Are you reading my mind?"

"Would it be a surprise if I was?" the young woman asked, her smile turning a bit malevolent.

I take the time to think about this. "Well…not really. I've seen weirder, I suppose."

"I see," the blonde woman states with a frown, and suddenly I feel a chill. I shake it off. This woman is clearly something dangerous.

"Who are you, anyway?" I ask, as politely as I can. Unfortunately, it comes out very bluntly, and I wince; fortunately, the woman seems to regard it as amusing. I've never been good at communicating politely. In my line of work, there really was no point; as a gardener, I don't really have to talk to anyone except in business terms, and as a treasure hunter I've never needed to be polite.

"My name is Yakumo." The woman regards me with piercing eyes, and I shudder minutely, which her perceptive eyes undoubtedly capture. _Damn._ "I can see that you fear me, if only a bit."

"Honestly? It's more of a mixture of your sudden appearance and this damnable cold." I gesture to where the first drops of snow were falling. "I've never been good with the cold."

Yakumo laughs lightly. "And who might you be?"

Instead of answering, I outright tell her, "I can tell that Yakumo isn't your name." At her raised eyebrow, I add, "Or, at least, it isn't your complete name."

"Indeed?" The woman looks at me with interest, although I can definitely see the faint traces of mirth around her eyes. "Do explain how you reached that conclusion."

I open my mouth, but stop and think about it. "You know, I'd rather not. Well," I continue as if I didn't just shun this horrifying abomination of a woman's simple request, "I suppose you can call me Kazami, if we're going to be working together."

The woman, Yakumo, raises both her eyebrows. "Working together…?"

Now it's my turn to be confused. "…Aren't you here to hunt for the treasure? I believe that's what the request said…"

"Treasure hunting? _You?_" This Yakumo woman outright laughs at me. I'm rather nonplussed about the whole situation, so I let it slide, instead merely waiting for her explanation. "I never expected _you_, of all people, to be a treasure hunter."

"Have we met?" I blithely ask instead of gratifying her with a response. The way she refers to me is eerily reminiscent of an old widow recounting the deeds of her late husband, so it's less an offended reaction and more an honestly curious question. Of course, I could just be over-thinking the whole thing. I'm prone to do that, after all…

"Perhaps we have," the woman mysteriously stated, whipping out a fan from seemingly nowhere and covering her mouth with it. "In your future, and in my past."

…What?

"…What?" I finally ask. But this Yakumo woman simply smiles a knowing smile, that somehow manages to set me on edge.

"I certainly didn't expect you to be the one to handle my request. I had thought…" she trails off for a second, then shakes her head. "Well. This is unexpected, sure, but it doesn't change anything, I suppose."

I stare at her for a few minutes. When it becomes apparent that she isn't going to say anything more, I shake myself out of my daze and sigh. "Well, if that's all, let's get going."

I felt no need to elaborate on what is obvious to me, and Yakumo seems to have understood me, as she lets out a mirthless giggle and closes her fan.

Which is strange in and of itself, actually. Most people tend to not understand me and instead angrily ask me to show some manners, even though it should be obvious that I don't care, but this woman simply smiles and goes with it. Heck, she might actually understand what I'm doing, which is…

I'm starting to _like_ this woman.

I'm jolted from my thoughts by the woman in question, who has opened her fan again. "Oh my, I had no idea you felt like that."

Oh. Right. Mind reader.

"It doesn't mean anything," I hastily defend. "Even though you clearly know something, this _is_ the first time we've met."

"Ah, of course, of course." Over her fan, her eyes seem to twinkle in amusement. _This is going to happen a lot, isn't it…?_ "Of course it's going to happen a lot! You're a very interesting person, Kazami."

_Of_ course _I am,_ I tiredly think. "Well, whatever, let's go." The tear in the fabric of space around the woman disappears and I can't help but stare at her outfit as she shows the rest of her torso.

"See something you like?" Yakumo teases, doing a short spin. Well, I suppose I do, seeing as how her dress is so completely outlandish that I can't see if she's serious about it.

"Those aren't acceptable clothes for a treasure hunt," I say, deadpan.

Yakumo laughs. "They're acceptable clothes for you, I can tell."

Despite the embarrassing conversation, I feel no need to blush, and instead reply, "Perhaps, but we're going on a treasure hunt. Not a date."

Oh, _there's_ the blush. I try to fight it off but I feel it burning my face regardless, and Yakumo only laughs harder. "You'd like that, though, wouldn't you, Kazami?" Yakumo asks, and I groan, turning away.

"If you can't follow me, I'm not going to bother with you," I reply, walking into the decrepit shrine. I hear Yakumo's footsteps and what sounds like a cane behind me. Well, I warned her about following me, so I continue onwards briskly.

Entering the shrine, I see absolutely no semblance of treasure anywhere. Well, to be fair, there's also no semblance of _sanity;_ the entire interior of the shrine is cluttered with…_stuff._ I can barely breathe because of the amount of dust in the area. I pull out a portable air purifier from my pocket, set it on the highest mode, and then drop it in the center of the room; within seconds, the air in the room is far more breathable. Yakumo whistles from behind me.

"That's an impressive device, there."

"It's essential for grave-robbing," I reply briskly, lightly tapping the floor with my foot as I walk to find any weak spots. Falling through one would be rather a pain to get over, especially because of this woman behind me.

"I didn't know you did grave-robbing," the woman snarks, and I look at her. She seems to be relatively unfazed by the quality of the shrine, and what I thought was a cane appears to be a light pink parasol.

I shrug at her implied question. "It's interesting." I turn back to my tapping. It's hard enough with the rubbish in front of me; wood chips line the floor and there are many blatant holes in the floor already, but none quite as big as I'd expected. The biggest problem was the shelves; strewn everywhere were things that belonged on them, but the shelves themselves were broken and scattered everywhere. I kneel down and examine a strange gourd-like object. It's purple, with a red rope around it, and strange stickers on certain places. Whatever it is, it certainly looks interesting. I open the cap and sniff at it, before recoiling and closing it again. The gourd smells _rancid._ I rub my nose on my sleeve and work on clearing the floor of this crap by throwing things into the corners of the shrine.

"You aren't scorned by society?" Yukari asks, and I wince. "For being a _woman_ who enjoys doing these dirty jobs?"

"Well…" I think about the question a bit, then decide to ignore it. "What, exactly, am I hunting for?"

"That's what I hired you to find out," the woman says with a wink in her tone. I don't know how she managed to do that, but that's what she did.

I actually stop thinking and turn to her. "How in the world did you wink at me with your voice?"

The woman blinks, obviously not expecting the question. Then she opens her fan and places it over her face again. "Now, now, that would be telling," she tells me in that damnable over-amused tone. I shrug; the question wasn't really important, anyway. I pick up a red dish and fling it into the corner; to my surprise, it doesn't break, just hits the wall with a thud. I pick up a stack of what looks like rotten clumps of paper and throw it into the corner.

"Do you happen to have anyone who cares about you?" Yakumo asks out of nowhere. I blink and turn at her, but she's looking at the crap in the shrine, so I turn back to my work.

I decide to humor her, anyway. "No." I pick up some sort of stone, with a rope tied around it. I don't understand this at all, but it looks kind of pointy, and it's quite heavy, so I place it gently to my right instead of throwing it in the corner. "Everyone I know and love is dead. What about you?" I look at her, stopping for a bit. "Anyone you care about?"

"Perhaps," she looks at me mysteriously. I feel another sudden chill and look away.

I pick up some sort of ball that looks half-black and half-white, but before I can throw it in the corner, Yakumo grabs my hand. "That's it."

I look at her strangely-serious face, then look at the ball in my hand. On closer look, it looks like a taijitu, instead of the perfect split it looked like at first glance. I look back at her. "_This?_ This ball thing is the treasure?" Yakumo nods, perfectly serious. I decide not to joke about it. "…alright."

Since she did pay me to explore this decrepit shrine, I pass her the ball, and she takes it with a look of awe on her face. I'm rather confused about this, but she speaks up again.

"How would you like to go to a new world?"

I look at her. "I have no idea what you're talking about." But she doesn't seem to be paying attention to me, so I walk up to her and snap my fingers in front of her face.

Yakumo looks up, startled. "Um, I…yes." She coughs lightly in one hand, then puts the taijitu ball in her pocket. I'm vaguely impressed that she can even fit that in her pocket. "Well, there's something else I'm looking for."

I raise an eyebrow. "As long as I'm paid for it, I'll find anything." Well, this isn't necessarily true. I've had bad luck on treasure hunts before, where I failed to find a single thing. In fact, in recent days those times have been increasing more and more often, but on the bright side, I _do_ still get paid, even if it's not as much as I would normally get.

But Yakumo waves my statement off. "It's okay, I've already found what I'm looking for." She then smiles at me malevolently.

"I'm looking for you."

My eyes widen in shock and I jump away from her, but I misjudge my landing and break through the shrine floor. Hissing in pain, I look down at my leg and see wood pieces lodged into my thigh. _Well, that's not good,_ I think idly as I pocket my portable air purifier, then I wince in pain as I try to dislodge the wood pieces. _That's_ really _not good._

But I don't have time to dwell on it as Yakumo strolls up to me. Suddenly, I fall down, slipping through the hole, and I land in a place with eyes everywhere.

Wait. What?

"What." I state flatly. Yakumo is sitting on a table, sipping at tea, and I see a spare teacup for me, I suppose. But otherwise, she seems to be in no rush to capture me.

"You've already been captured," Yakumo corrected my thoughts. "This is my world, the border between the outside world and Gensokyo."

"Is that the 'new world' you mentioned?" I raise an eyebrow. She nods, and I hobble to my seat, wincing in pain at every step. "I'm going to need some backstory, Yakumo."

Yakumo's face lights up. "Of course! I fully expect you to blend right in with the others, Kazami."

I stare at her until her smile turns sheepish. "Right, right. Okay. Tell me, Kazami…

_"What do you know about youkai?"_

* * *

><p>I sit there stunned at the large amount of information I've had to process in the past two hours. Gensokyo was a pocket world in a certain area in Japan, and the shrine I'd visited happened to be the only accessible entrance and exit. Gensokyo itself seemed like a fantastical world, a place housed with horrible youkai, mischievous gods, and other strange and terrible creatures, and brave humans that fend them off, like the "Hakurei shrine maiden", whoever that is. The woman in front of me happens to be a youkai herself, one of the most powerful youkai in the world, a manipulator of boundaries. (To prove it, of course, she plucks a camellia from my personal garden. How quaint. I withhold the urge to chastise her for plucking the flower wrong, but instead I simply wait for her to continue.)<p>

I take a sip of tea and consider my options. On the one hand, it does seem like a fantasy story, but on the other hand…

"If this place really _does_ exist," I speak up for the first time in two hours. "What do you want me to do about it?"

Yakumo raises an eyebrow. "I assumed you already knew."

"You assumed wrong."

"Indeed." Yakumo sips at her tea again. "I want you to join Gensokyo as a resident. After all, nobody in the outside world will miss you."

I stare at her, thoughts whirling. "True. But…"

"But it's a place filled with man-eating youkai, yes," Yakumo smirked. "Really, though, that isn't a problem for you at all."

"Easy for you to say," I shoot back at her. "You're a youkai too. I'm 99% certain you're lying about the state of affairs in Gensokyo just so I can feel more at ease about your world."

Yakumo's eyebrow raises again. I squash the urge to rip it off. "Is it working?"

"Surprisingly, yes," I concede. "When do I start?"

Yakumo smiles. "My, that was rather quick, wasn't it? Are you sure you don't want to think more about it?"

"My only request is that my flowers _must_ come with me," I say. "I've spent far too much time working on my personal garden to let that all go to waste. Other than that, no, I'm content with your offer."

Yakumo keeps staring at me with that damnable smile, but after a while her smile drops and she looks at me, blatantly confused. "You're _serious._ You're willing to drop everything in your life to follow the whims of a woman who is probably completely delusional and join a world where death is certain."

"As long as I have my flowers? Sure, why not?" I sip at my tea finally, and grimace at the taste. "I've put a lot of work into those flowers; I'd really rather not have to start again, honestly."

Yakumo continues to look baffled. I relent and explain my thought process a bit. "You do understand that you apparently warped me from reality to this…abyss of eyes, right? I'm willing to believe quite a lot, but something like this has already turned my entire sense of reality on its head. At this point, I'm not surprised in the concept of this 'eastern wonderland' or anything of the sort."

"…You are a unique individual, Kazami," Yakumo finally says. I shrug, unconcerned.

"I've been called worse before." I stand up. "So, when do I start?"

Yakumo smiles again, and this time it's not a pleasant smile. "Right now!" She snaps her fingers and I feel the effect of gravity on my being. I look down to see what I'm about to fall on.

The ground beneath me turns into actual ground, grass and dirt, except for the small problem that I'm a few meters above it.

"Welcome to Gensokyo, Yuuka." Yakumo's smile is light, teasing, but her eyes are hard and cold, as if remembering something unpleasant. "Enjoy your stay."


	2. The Border Between Past and Future

**Chapter Two: The Border Between Past and Future**

"Oh, hello again, Yuuka!"

I turn to the voice to my left. "Yukari," I nod back.

Yukari looked the same as ever, purple dress and silly umbrella and all. I fought down a smile and instead left my face perfectly placid.

"Still out of Mugenkan, I see," she chuckles, as if remembering an old joke.

I shrug. "Elly will take care of it, I'm certain. I see no reason to head back there at the moment."

"Ah, of course, your absurdly dedicated gatekeeper," Yukari hums. "How could I forget?"

"She isn't absurdly dedicated," I mutter. "Only about as much as that shikigami of yours."

"Ah, but my shikigami _has_ to be loyal to me," Yukari looks at me. "Otherwise, I'd just have to reprogram her."

I hum non-commitally. We spend a few minutes standing side-by-side, looking over the valley of the Garden of the Sun, before Yukari speaks up. "I never thought I'd see the day where you'd be wearing a dress," she said with a grin.

I shrug. "Pants are expensive here." I think about it for a moment, then turn to glare at her. "Did you plan it like that?"

"Of course not," Yukari merely laughed the thought away. "It's just to be expected in a small, isolated area like Gensokyo. Pants are a welcome novelty." She pulls up a fan and covers her face with it, but I can see her grin by the shape of her eyes. "Fujiwara no Mokou's pants are completely destroyed, only being held up by strategically-placed stickers." I fought down a blush thinking about the hotheaded immortal being bare naked all the time. "Haaaah, is the ultra-powerful S-rank youkai Kazami Yuuka _blushing_? Oh, whatever will that gatekeeper of yours think?"

"Yukari, if you tell anyone, I will _end you,_" I threaten without really meaning it. Both of us know Yukari won't tell anyone; she's absurdly secretive like that.

"Well, she _is_ quite pretty," Yukari offers, ignoring the threat with practiced ease. I hum in agreement.

"I'd like to fight her again," I reply. "She was quite a challenge."

"Even after you basically ogled her?" Yukari said with a smirk.

I scoff. "She really should not have burned off all of her clothes. It's common sense for anyone with flame powers." I then shrugged. "The fight was actually a lot more fun when she was embarrassed. Think I can do it again?"

Yukari hums, lost in thought, and I take the time to stare at my beautiful flowers.

"Yes," Yukari finally says, and I look up at her to see her lost in thought. "Yes, I think you can." She looks down at me curiously and I feel a strange burning in my chest.

Before she can react, I lean in and kiss her on the lips. They're soft, yet surprisingly moist. Before I can hold it for more than a few seconds, though, Yukari is already pushing me away.

"Sorry, Yuuka," and although she's smiling, I can tell that Yukari truly means her apology. "My heart's already set on another."

I struggle to keep the crushing wave of despair off of me. "Oh. My apologies, then," I say, while averting my eyes from her.

Before I can do anything else, though, she appears in front of me and kisses me on the forehead. "You're still a good friend to me," she says soothingly. "I just can't love you like you love me."

I can already feel my blush spreading. I choose not to fight it this time. "...this is embarrassing."

Yukari laughs. "It is, it is! But I'm glad you're honest about your feelings right now."

I shrug. "I learned my lesson about not explaining things the day I got here." Yukari chuckles at the memory.

* * *

><p>I land hard on my butt.<p>

Already, I have a great first impression of the place.

Wincing as I stand, I brush off my clothes and look ahead. I seem to have a welcome party, as a whole bunch of what look like monsters and what equally look like humans are staring at me. I see Yakumo standing in back of a black-haired child wearing a shrine maiden's outfit. Yakumo looks a lot younger than I saw her last, but then again, she's the manipulator of boundaries. I don't feel surprised by this outcome in the least.

"...This is Gensokyo?" I ask, bluntly. "Yakumo, this is _primitive._"

Yakumo stares at me, confused. "I...who are you?"

"I mean, really, I expected more from a fantasy wonderland. And who are these..." I trail off as her words sink into my head, and I realize that the other people in the area are staring at me with honest confusion. "...Let me guess."

"Who are you?" the black-haired child from before looks at me. "I'm warning you, if you came here to wreak havoc..."

"No, no, let me guess," I wave off her probably honest attempt to hit me. "Yakumo sent me to Gensokyo, back in time, in an attempt to send me to the Gensokyo she wanted me to go to, but somehow, due to some accidental mishap or another, she instead catapulted me back to a time where youkai were even more dangerous than she made them out to be."

"I...what?"

"But, no, if I were to go back in time, especially to a time where a younger version of her exists, then that can only mean that she damn well knew that she was going to send me back in time." I curse, and pace back and forth. "Which can only mean that not only did you knowingly send me back to a time that looks absolutely nothing like the Gensokyo you told me about, but you also made it nearly impossible to smack you across your head for your idiocy."

"Um...what are you...?"

"Why am I not surprised...?" I look at the young form of Yakumo, and I kneel closer to her. "Yakumo, some time in the future, you're going to meet a lady who calls herself Kazami. And you're going to send her back in time, full well knowing you're sending her back in time, but not telling her anything. You're going to send her to this exact moment in time, and this woman will say these exact same words back to your younger self.

"Now, knowing all of this, where would your future self be...?" I turn around and smile. "Ah. Good, my flowers are here, too."

"I would be here~!" the voice of the older Yakumo floats in from a half-opened gap above the flowers. I sigh, kneading my forehead. "I hope you like the flowers~!"

"You couldn't have done this _properly?_ Daft old woman," I mutter. "Did you at least manage to give me some sort of power boost? I'm not about to fight - sorry, _live peacefully_ - with beings that can easily crush me."

"Of a sort~!" she calls back. "You're a youkai now. Have fun~!"

I can feel the flowers calling me. It's a hard feeling to comprehend, let alone explain, so I simply ignore it. "So instead of turning me into a youkai _exterminator_ like in your stories, you turned me into a _youkai_. And I'm supposed to do _what_ with this?"

But the half-opened gap shuts itself and I groan, angrily kneading my forehead. "Stupid annoying old woman."

"So you _are_ here to wreak havoc!" the black-haired shrine maiden shouts. "For the sake of humanity, I'm going to exterminate you!"

I stare at her, completely baffled. "How in the world did you get _that_ from the conversation I was having?" At her narrowing eyes, I hold up a hand. "Never mind, I don't care. Look, kid, I don't have time for this. I need to find -"

But the shrine maiden girl interrupts me, waving a stick with some sort of paper things attached to it around. "[Fantasy Seal]!"

I jump back as _something_ pops up around the girl, and seven balls of light, glowing different colors, surround her, spinning lazily.

"...Did the sky just get darker?" I ask, hoping to distract her (because, yes, I'm pretty sure the sky _did_ get darker), but to no avail as she points her stick-thing at me. Suddenly the balls move, and I jump backwards as one hits the place I was.

I notice that the ball disintegrates when it hits the ground, and I look at her to see that...she's still pointing the stick thing at me. Damn.

I jump and duck around the orbs, watching as they disintegrate into the ground. I try to avoid where they land, as well, just in case that triggers a trap.

"Stop - moving - and - let - me - EXTERMINATE YOU!" the shrine maiden girl shouts. I think she's gone crazy from overexposure to Yakumo. How irritating.

I raise an eyebrow in the lull in combat. "You know I was human up until a minute ago, right?" Well, the lull's over, and the shrine maiden starts shooting what appear to be homing missiles in the shape of cards. I sigh. "I guess not."

Dodging, ducking and weaving through the patterns she may or may not be firing intentionally, I jump to avoid a particularly nasty cluster of homing missiles. This proves to be a bit of a mistake, as I'm suddenly forced to twist in mid-air to avoid a stream of straight-firing tags.

It's interesting to see the tags in action; you'd think that throwing pieces of paper would result in them flying away, but clearly the shrine maiden is adept at using them, to the point where they feel far more razor-sharp than paper should ever feel.

But I digress.

Upon landing and ducking at another stream of - oh, they're _talismans_ - I try to look for anything I can throw back at her to make her stop. Unfortunately, all I have is my air purifier, which is utterly pointless in this situation, and...

Wait. What happened to my leg? I could've sworn...

Taking advantage of my momentary lapse in attention, I'm suddenly pounded by paper tags, and they hurt far more than paper has any right to hurt. On the bright side, it's not an unbearable amount of pain, and I use that to surge through the paper cascade. The shrine maiden gasps and I hear muttering from the other people but pay absolutely no attention to them.

My leg somehow being healed from having a giant piece of wood shoved into it, I use that leg to kick her in the face.

Hooray, she doesn't dodge.

Hopping back to avoid any last minute attacks, I stare at her warily while dusting my clothes off. "You done now?" I ask, rather politely if I do say so myself.

Clearly the little Yakumo disagrees. "What the hell are you doing?!" she screeches. I wince.

"Self-defense, evidently." I roll my eyes.

The crowd behind Yakumo roars - no, wait, they're _cheering._ That's weird. I vaguely see the shrine maiden getting up in the corner of my eye, but Yakumo continues to yell at me angrily.

Then she warily backs off, looking at the shrine maiden as well. I turn my attention around and she punches me in the face.

Flying backwards into the crowd, I wondered what sort of trouble I've gotten myself into this time. Oh, wait, didn't Yakumo tell me about a treaty of some sort between humans and youkai?

Huh. _Whoops._

I'd like to say that the fight went on for longer than that, but truth be told, after I landed hard on my skull, becoming very much disoriented, the shrine maiden stabbed me in the chest with her stick-thing and I died.

* * *

><p>And then I wake up in my flower bed. Strange, that. I do a quick body check and find that, yes, I'm fully clothed. The entire concept of life after death is strange, but apparently, as a new youkai, I'm exempt from the laws of such trivial things as dying.<p>

That's _awesome._

"Good. You're awake," an unwelcome and yet _so very welcome_ voice echoes near my flowers. I turn my head to see Yakumo herself sitting next to me, on top of a border, sipping tea.

"Yakumo." I tilt my head towards her. "What am I doing here?"

"You're lucky," the woman-who-isn't explains. "The fight was so close to your spawn that you were easily regenerating. Had it been anywhere else, you very well could have died."

I hum, feeling the presence of so many flowers. "There's more flowers here."

"Flowers grow where you get exterminated," Yakumo continues to explain. "I dug them up and planted them closer to your spawn point."

"I see." And I guess I really did, in a twisted sort of way. The flowers represent my very life force, and when I die, the flowers bloom because of my life force leaking out of my body. So I'm not entirely immortal, which comes as no great shock. I'd never expected to be a youkai, though, so the thought of being constantly exterminated didn't particularly make me very excited.

"Why were you fighting with Miss Hakurei?" Yakumo enquires, and I raise an eyebrow. Who?

"...the shrine maiden?" I ask, and she nods. "Because she attacked me first, of course."

The youkai shifts a bit in her seat. "You didn't think to simply give up? She's the strongest human in Gensokyo, after all."

I tilt my head. "What does that matter?"

"Most youkai wouldn't even bother trying to fight her," she admits. "Most youkai know better than to try."

"I'm pretty obviously not most youkai," I reply. "I wasn't even a youkai until I got here."

"Yes, I...noticed," Yakumo notes with a grimace. "I heard you say something along those lines during the fight. Still...it's not wise to make an enemy of the shrine maiden."

I shrug. "It honestly doesn't matter to me."

Yakumo's eyes flash, and I hide a wince. "Then perhaps it hadn't occured to you that your fight caused youkai relations to sour? That it's your fault that the contract had to be revised?"

"I don't really care," I tell her honestly. Ignoring her reaction, I continue, "I don't know what the original contract said, or what the new contract changes, so it doesn't bother me, no."

Yakumo grimaces, and I can feel a flash of hurt from my flowers. Before I can dwell on this reaction, Yakumo _pulls._

* * *

><p>I blink my eyes, getting used to the new sight in front of me. "This is..."<p>

"This is the Hakurei Shrine," Yakumo tells me, and I blink at the sight.

"Oh." I look at her. "I've been here with your older self."

The Yakumo girl blinks. "Oh? So, then, you know why you're here?"

"Nope," I reply with my usual crooked smile. "I went treasure hunting here."

"_Treasure?_ In this shrine?" the shrine maiden from before snorts, pausing from her sweeping to look at her visitors. "Hardly."

"Some things were pretty interesting," I retort. "At least, some of the stuff is irregular in the place I come from."

"So you _are_ from another place," another girl I don't recognize mutters audibly, before she pulls out a notepad and starts jotting something down. I look at her.

"Are you...a news reporter?" I squint at her. "Judging from the hat and feet...a tengu youkai. Is this a common thing in your species?" At their surprised looks, I shrug. "Just guessing."

"Yes, that's...accurate," she hesitantly replies. "Was it obvious?"

"To me, it was," I say calmly. "But I'm not like most people." Beside me, Yakumo snorts something like _well, isn't that obvious._ I elect to ignore this.

"I...would you be willing to answer some questions?" the tengu girl asks me, hesitantly. I shrug, and she backpedals, "Um, if you don't want to, that's fine, but I just-"

"It's fine," I cut her off. "Go for it."

She quickly regains confidence, and flips through her notepad. Clearing her throat, she starts with, "So, um, what's your name?"

"Kazami Yuuka," I tell her, electing to use Japanese convention. "People back home used to just call me by my surname, Kazami." She nods, and writes it down as a note.

"You're a youkai, although a new one, and multiple sources corroborate this. What, then, is your specialty, if any?"

I blink at the question, then shrug. "Something to do with flowers?"

Yakumo blinks, and the reporter stops writing to gape at me. Even the shrine maiden pauses in her work to glance at me. "What?" I ask.

"You _don't know_ what your power is?" the tengu asks. I shake my head.

"I became a youkai the instant I landed here. Before that, I was human." I rub the back of my neck, feeling a particularly itchy spot. "Can I just blame Yakumo?"

"How long have you known the gap youkai, Yakumo Yukari?" the tengu asks, obviously using my answer to segue into her question.

I look at Yakumo. "Your given name's _Yukari?_" She raises an eyebrow at me, but nods anyway. "So the choice in clothing's a pun on your name, then?" Another nod, but this time more embarrassed. "Huh. To answer your question, Ms. Tengu," I say to the reporter, "I've known her for...about..." I do some quick mental calculations in my head. "Eight hours, give or take two."

"That's all?" Yukari asks me, and I shrug. "I assumed you'd known me for longer than that," she mutters.

"You hired me to look for a taijitu," I tell her. "I have absolutely no idea why that would be important, but it was."

"A..." Her eyes widen. "_That's_ why you're here!"

"I beg your pardon?" I blink at her sudden change in mood.

Yukari waves her arms around. "If it wasn't for the Yin-Yang Orb, we wouldn't have been able to set up the barrier! You're responsible for making it a success!" She suddenly stands up to bow. "Thank you!"

I blink. "Um. Okay." I turn away from the purple youkai and towards the black-haired one. "Ms. Tengu, any more questions?"

The tengu's mouth dropped open again and Yukari sat back down in a huff. I wasn't entirely sure why, but by her glare, it was probably something I did. I waited for the tengu to compose herself, but after five minutes I gave up. "Yukari." The purple-clad youkai looks at me. "How old are you, exactly?"

"Fifty years, five months, fifty-two days, and three-hundred sixty two seconds," she chirps, sounding oddly rehearsed and yet enthusiastic at the same time.

"Huh." I turn to the wall behind me. "And how old are you, Yakumo?"

"You of all people should know it's impolite to ask a lady's age," the wall says, before the gap in it widens and the older Yakumo pops out. She opens a fan with butterfly markings on it and Yukari - the smaller one - gasps.

I raise an eyebrow. "So...a few thousand years old, then."

The older Yakumo pouts adorably. "I'm still not sure how you can figure that out with just a glance."

I shrug. "It's why you hired me, I'm guessing."

She smiles laconically. "This is true."

"The part I'm not so sure about," I say as I glance between the two Yakumos. "Is if I'm a few thousand years in the past, or only a few hundred. Because time travel - even for you - would have to age you, correct?"

"Indeed," Yakumo smiles. "You're a few hundred years back - not even close to a thousand, really."

"I can _time travel?_" Yukari looks at her older self in wonder.

I look at the two of them again. "Isn't there some sort of paradox rule against this?"

Yakumo smirks, still waving that fan over her face. "Not if I distinctly remember having this conversation before."

"Oh, boy," I say in a deadpan. "And you still haven't figured out just what makes me tick, after all the time you supposedly spent with me. Speaking of which," I stand up slowly, getting used to my newly-reincarnated body and steadfastly ignoring her still-adorable pout. "Why, exactly, am I a youkai?"

"Oh-ho-ho!" This time-traveling blond youkai closes her fan. "I'm glad you asked. You see, I had a feeling that you wouldn't be able to survive in this time had you been human. So I gave you a bit of a boon. I hope it's to your liking?"

I want to say no, I desperately want to say that I should be human, but the words die a quick death as my brain takes in just what I'm about to deal with. Youkai, supernatural beings with absurd powers. Demons, as well, perhaps. Oni? Or the western view of demons? And the only thing between youkai and humanity is a _shrine maiden?_

"Actually, I'm very happy with this. Thank you." I perform a bow, although being unused to expressing gratitude it's a very sloppy bow. Nevertheless, it gets the job done, and as I rise back to a standing position, I see Yakumo smile.

"This is the only time I've ever seen you bow," she admits.

I snort, almost unconsciously. "Don't get used to it, Yukari," I warn threateningly, gesturing to her younger self.

"Oh, don't worry about that," Yakumo speaks up before her younger self can get a word in. "I'd honestly forgotten what it looked like to see you bow before now."

"Well, that's promising," I reply.

The younger Yukari pulls out a notepad and jots down notes - characters in a language I can't understand - before hastily putting it away. "And I have to _remember_ all of this," she whines.

"Oh, don't worry," Yakumo the elder says. "It really won't be that hard. Anything that Kazami does is very interesting."

"That...isn't a good sign." Wasn't there an old Confucius saying on the matter? 'May you live in interesting times'? That isn't good for my continued sanity.

"Nope~!" Yakumo chuckles. "Have fun, dear," she calls at us as she moves backwards into the gap.

"W-wait!" Yukari snaps. "What am I supposed to do _now?_ Give me a hint! Please!" But Yakumo is already gone.

"Well, that was strange," I say, shrugging. "I suppose now I'll have to find a home."

I turn to leave, but the shrine maiden stops me. "It's _your fault_ that the relations between human and youkai have soured to the point it has!"

I turn to her and raise an eyebrow. "So?" I had thought I had made it abundantly clear I didn't particularly care about that subject.

And then I remember, I didn't tell _her_ that, only Yukari. Whoops.

"I, the Hakurei shrine maiden, challenge you, disruptive youkai!" With that, she charges at me.

I stop her assault by holding her face with one hand. "That was oddly formal."

In response, Hakurei rushes harder against my hand, forcing me to potentially bend my elbow and give her a shot in. I elect to instead throw her over my head and into a tree.

I turn to her and wipe all trace of emotion from my face. "What, exactly, are you trying to do?"

"EXTERMINATE YOU!" With that, the shrine maiden appears, rushing towards me with stick in hand.

"I see," I say, closing my hand into a fist. "Well, we can't have _that,_ can we?" I ask, rhetorically.

She brings her stick down and I throw a right hook directly into her face. The ground cracks (which I didn't expect) and she gets sent flying again (which I did).

"Ah," I blink in realization, before a smile graces my face. "So _that's_ your weakness." With that said, I bent down slightly, prepared for the fight ahead.

Hakurei throws talismans at me. I barely have time to dodge them before she rushes me, crazed look on her face. She swings her stick at my face again, but I grab her arm with my right hand, and force her closer to me. Then I punch her over and over again in the face with my left hand.

Ambidexterity was difficult for me to master, being naturally right-handed, but it serves its purpose on occasion. Like now, for instance.

After my hand tires from the punches, I grab her throat and strangle her. In response, she rotates her wrist enough to weakly hit me with the stick. As she slowly turns blue, I ponder on its true effects, before they come known: I can't feel my arm at all.

I grin even wider at this outcome. _Not a problem._

I let her go, and as predicted, she struggles to gasp for breath, kneeling on the floor. I kick her in the side and she screams out in pain. I then bend my right arm manually, being unable to feel it, before dropping on top of her with my right shoulder.

"The problem with being unable to feel pain," I add conversationally as she gasps and struggles to breathe again, "is that you just don't know when to _stop_. That's a problem, you know."

She struggles to hit me from behind her. "Also, fun little tidbit." I lean my head closer to the back of her head and whisper. "_I used to be human, you little shit. I know more about the human body than anyone in this primitive, backwards place._" Tears stream from her eys as she continues to struggle to breathe, and I huff in satisfaction, having finally forced her to listen to me. I look towards Yukari, who looked scared at first, but now is staring at me with rage in her eyes.

"Stop it!" Yukari shouts. I flinch at the volume, which doesn't help Hakurei's breath intake in the least, judging from the short gasp she emitted.

"Stop it," Yukari continued to say, softer and more desperate. "Miss Kazami, let her go, _please._"

I smile. "Okay." With that, I stand up. Hakurei was knocked unconscious; I could tell because I could feel my arm again. "It's okay, Yukari, I only knocked her out," I said, swinging my newly-recovered arm back and forth.

Yukari immediately rushed to her side, presumably to check my claim for herself. I walked toward the wall opposite of where I was, so that I could lean against it, watching Yukari try to rouse the shrine maiden.

The tengu continued to gape.


	3. The Border Between Peace and War

Er, sorry, I had to up the rating for the entire story because of this chapter. I...kind of forgot what rating I gave it? And when I posted it, I realized "damn, I can't post this in the K+ section! What am I doing?!" It's kind of violent but Shadow the Hedgehog uses 'damn' a lot - in an E10+ game - and Harry Potter uses one of the words at the end - it's a fairly obvious word - so I'm assuming that I can, too. Still raised the rating because of, um, _other reasons._

**Chapter Three: The Border Between Peace and War**

Naturally, as tales are wont to do, the story of a fight between the Hakurei shrine maiden and I spread like wildfire. I suspected that it had to do with the tengu girl that was there, but I had no proof one way or the other, and regardless of its origin it was a massively-popular tale.

Sadly, as tales are wont to do, the story was also grossly exaggerated and many key facts were changed that made me out to be the instigator and primary villain. Which is patently untrue; had she allowed me to leave, I very well would have, but instead she instigated a fight. I am not a violent person, by nature, but I have learned that when in a fight I must use every one of my not-insignificant skills to end it as quickly as possible without resorting to killing my opponent.

Murder is not a very good way to continue being profitable.

But after the fight, and when she awoke, the shrine maiden invited me in for tea and she and I talked peacefully about the state of affairs in Gensokyo, while Yukari glared at me as if I would die from her explosive eye beams.

Yakumo was an immensely powerful being, and I see that potential in Yukari, but it's tempered by childlike naivete and an innocence that was gone from the future version of her. Which is a shame, really; Yakumo was an interesting and fascinating enigma, while this little Yukari is almost a facsimile of the elder, and far simpler to read.

The shrine maiden, Hakurei, is far different from her, in that whereas Yukari is innocent, Hakurei is cynical and angry at far too many things. Of course, being the first - and often the last - line of defense against youkai that raise too much of a ruckus or threaten the sanctity of the human's village, the Hakurei maiden often encounters terrible things, so perhaps she has a right to be. But being that, firstly, I trashed her in a straight fight, and secondly, I proved to be completely unwilling to kill her, she offered a truce, in that I refrain from killing humans and she refrains from exterminating me.

Dying, while not final for me, is very unpleasant (as my single experience has taught me), so I agreed. She then deemed me a peaceful youkai of some sort (which, although I don't like violence, I wouldn't go so far as to call myself 'peaceful') and made a pot of tea as I was ushered in by a glowering Yukari.

Hakurei enlightened me on the state of affairs in Gensokyo. She told me of the tengu of Youkai Mountain headed by the ever-powerful Lord Tenma, the lawless fae of the natural world, the humans of the only human village, the youkai that reside in the Bamboo Forest of the Lost, and a myriad of other, lesser factions. I absorbed it all greedily, then told her bits and pieces of my life prior to becoming a youkai.

She winced at my casual acceptance of my youkai state. "If you were of the Human Village, I would have had no choice but to exterminate you. A human willingly becoming a youkai is one of the great sins of the village."

I nod. "Well, I'm not from there, so I suppose it's a bit different in my case." She nods. "Besides which, I didn't exactly _know_ I was going to be a youkai."

She nods again. "So, since it was unwilling, I've accepted that I have no reason to attempt to exterminate you, even without the truce."

"That's rather kind of you," I drawl out. Hakurei ignores my blatant sarcasm and nods serenely.

"How _did_ you cancel out my _gohei_, anyway?" Hakurei suddenly asks.

I blink. "Your what?"

"My _gohei_?" She raises her stick.

"Oh, is that what it was called?" I ask, shrugging, before explaining. "My arm was numb for a while, after you hit me. Terrible thing to do to someone in a fight," I mutter with a grin. "It doesn't stop the opponent, after all, it just makes them numb to any form of damage in that area. Which is actually a problem, in the long run, but..." I shrug, trailing off.

"But my _gohei_ is supposed to do more damage than just that," she mutters, staring at the stick.

I can only shrug in response.

* * *

><p>"What on earth are those?" I ask, fascinated by the balls of light that appeared from the young shrine maiden.<p>

"Danmaku," she replied, concentrating.

"Interesting," I mutter, walking around her as she stays still. "And what is the point of these?"

"Long-range fighting," she grunts out.

"Hm." I poke one and it fizzes against my finger. Hakurei flinches and it dissipates. "Oh, I'm sorry."

"No," Hakurei waves her hand, then comes to a realization. "Do it again, please. This time, let me know if it hurts."

"Hm?" I'm curious to know what she has planned. Well, whatever, it's not too much of a hassle, so I agree. I touch another orb and Hakurei flinches again, but her determined face quickly comes back even as the ball dissipates.

I touch another orb and it _hurts,_ as if a million tiny needles pulsed through my figner's nerves. Hakurei's eyes snap open and she grins savagely. "That's the one. Now I just have to replicate that..."

"Oh, I see," I say, in between placing my sore finger in my mouth. "Very clever; a ball of light that acts as a youkai repellent. Adding many of these in a dense circle would certainly increase your defensive output." I find that my finger has already become numb from the pain, and I shake it out a few times for good measure. "After all, it isn't truly lethal, but it works as a sort of conductive electrical weapon. Quite brilliant."

Hakurei blushes but looks pleased at my assessment. "You aren't angry, are you?"

"Of course not," I say, waving dismissively. "I'm always pleased to help a friend."

Hakurei pauses. "I can't be your friend." She says this in such a cold tone that I can't help but be taken aback for a bit.

"Of course," I nod, because I understand. She can't be seen being friendly with a youkai; she's a _youkai exterminator_, after all. "Acquaintances, then. Regardless, I'm quite happy with helping you out."

Hakurei nods decisively, as if suddenly everything is right in the world.

"So, Hakurei..." I pause, thinking about the implications of such a technique. "How, exactly, do you form one of these?"

"You just, kind of..." She mimes a pushing gesture. "Push it out of your hand. Like, you grab your energy and push it out? I found that it's easier to push it out through your hands, but you could theoretically do it anywhere on your body. But you have to have the _right amount_ of energy in the ball; otherwise, it just pops on contact."

I squeeze my hand into a fist, then loosen my grip. "Hm." I focus on my hand, and I see a large ball of light exit my hand, but it dissipates quickly after I lose focus. "Interesting."

She blinks. "You got that step pretty fast."

"I'll probably end up getting it faster than you," I say. "Because I'm a youkai, and all."

Hakurei laughs. "Yeah, _right._ Wanna bet?"

I shrug again. "Sure."

* * *

><p>I win the bet. Hakurei is salty for <em>days<em>.

* * *

><p>Yukari had informed me previously that the 'great tengu' had invited me to the Youkai Mountain. I had every intention to decline, but Yukari somehow got me to go along with it, so I traveled up the Youkai Mountain, walking through by foot.<p>

Fairies ran away from me, no doubt having heard the rumors of my supposed strength. The kappa stayed hidden, barely noticeable; similarly, the tengu stood guard high in trees and stared at me as if one misstep would cost them their lives. I could very easily sense the current of unease that ran throughout the mountaintop.

Overall, it was a very pleasant walk.

Yukari drifted next to me the entire time, sitting in a half-opened gap. "I see your reputation precedes you," she smirks.

I shrug. "The reputation is based mostly on false information," I reply. "But if it makes others leave me alone, then so be it."

Yukari chuckles. "Fair enough."

"Halt!" a white wolf tengu calls from the treetops; then a group of them jump down from the trees and take up defensive positions. I raise an eyebrow, but Yukari is able to talk before I do.

"Ah, Momiji, was it?" Yukari's voice is strangely similar to the elder Yakumo's voice at this time. I assume that she took lessons from the scant few minutes that her past and future counterparts met. "You do understand, of course, that if we are delayed any further, the great tengu will be awfully upset with us, yes?"

Momiji, the now-quivering tengu, stands firm regardless. "Still, perhaps it would behoove you to accept an escort? We may get there faster..."

"What's wrong with the pace we're going at now?" I reply. "I quite like this walk. Very peaceful. This mountain is beautiful, after all." I attempt a beatific smile. Judging from Momiji's expression, it doesn't seem to succeed. Yukari snickers quietly from behind me.

"Well, we _are_ going awfully slowly," Yukari says as if she wasn't just laughing at whatever I said.

"It's a beautiful day," I defend. "Why would I rush it?"

"Well..." Momiji looks to her comrades for assistance; they shrug helplessly. The scene unfolds in front of me and I watch with amusement as Momiji heads back to her group and performs a huddle, discussing some sort of plan, before they break and Momiji clears her throat. "Then we will act as bodyguards, for our honored guests."

"Okay," I shrug, confused by their manners. The 'great tengu' probably sent them to spy on us, yes, and I can accept that, but for them to break cover and actually interact with their targets is an interesting ploy.

Before I can dwell on it more, Momiji does an interesting hand motion consisting of slashes, and the tengu disperse. I look at Yukari with some surprise, and Yukari does the same.

"So, was that intentional? Insulting the tengu, I mean," Yukari asks.

"...No?" I decide to continue being honest - I was, quite honestly, unaware that it was considered an insult. "I was simply telling the truth. There isn't much better than a peaceful walk with a beautiful woman by your side."

I resolutely refused to look at her after I said that, and tried to will down my damnable embarrassment. Yukari, for her part, merely hummed and made a snapping noise I associated with the opening of her fan. "I...suppose I cannot disagree with the sentiment."

I take a chance and glance at her, but she resolutely looks away, fan covering her mouth. I open my mouth to say something, but no words are spoken, so I close it and turn away. After a while, Yukari closes her fan with a huff and drifts lazily into the corner of my eye.

"Well, Kazami," the gap youkai starts. "I suppose we _should_ pick up the speed, if only for the sake of our tengu bodyguards." Indeed, they kept stealing furtive and impatient glances over their shoulders at us, and constantly had to double-check their own positions in regards to our speed.

I hum, dismissing the idea. "If they can't handle the peaceful walking speed of ordinary folk," I say, watching with amusement as the tengu's prominent canine-like ears twitched at my words, "they shouldn't really be bodyguards in the first place." Indeed, the tengu in front of me all freeze at once and then instantly take a more leisurely walking pace. Yukari snickers into my ear, and even I fail to withhold an amused smirk.

Nevertheless, we pick up some speed, our pace being only slightly hastened from the slow crawl the tengu complained about. They took another glance over their shoulders, noticed our increased speed, and picked up speed of their own so that they were evenly matched with us, except with a ten-meter head start.

It was at this pace that we walked up the whole of the mountain - as much as I was tempted to call for a break, solely because of the tengu bodyguards' undoubtedly amusing actions.

We arrived at a large encampment, adorned with beautiful carvings and pottery sculptures, colorful feathers adorning nearly every part of the camp. Unusually, despite the ancient-looking insides, the wall surrounding the camp was almost certainly concrete.

The lead tengu among our bodyguards - Momiji, it seemed - loudly announced our presence. "Lord Tenma! The requested invited and her guest have arrived!"

The tengu at the gate all simultaneously twitched and opened the flaps of the 'gate' (if two curtains next to each other could be called a 'gate') wider. Momiji proceeded inside, but none of the other bodyguards did, so neither did we. After five minutes, Momiji came out, bowing deeply to us. "Please enter."

I look at Yukari, unsure of how to proceed. She shrugs, and flicks her hand toward the gate. I nod and enter, Yukari following.

* * *

><p>Tenma stands, enraged. "I should kill you for that remark."<p>

In the span of five minutes, I seem to have angered the old fart in front of me. I seem to have a talent of it. He seemed personable enough until I opened my mouth - he laughed the first few insults off, but then, I suppose, my nervousness overrode my common sense and I continued to hurl insults.

In retrospect, probably a bad idea.

I scoff. "As if you _could._" Yukari taps my shoulder, insistently. I turn to her. "What?"

Yukari looks worried. "Kazami...he _can._"

I feel more than a bit betrayed by this. "Don't you trust me, Yukari?"

"Of _course_ I do!" She looks between us. "It's just...Lord Tenma is absurdly powerful, and you're..."

"He's an _old fart_, is what he is," I mutter, completely annoyed at the idea that Yukari doesn't believe in me. "I'd bet he's painfully slow."

"SLOW?!" Tenma yells in an enraged roar. In response, Tenma rushes me at a speed that I didn't think he could rush. My honed reflexes allow me to dodge the rushing attack, but Tenma follows up in a combination of punches I can't dodge fast enough, and I go flying into the tents behind me.

Laying in the rubble of the now-ruined tents, I fire a danmaku - in the style that Hakurei taught me - and in the resulting bit of distraction I manage to stand up, doing my best to look unruffled even as my internal injuries slowly cause my body to shut down.

Tenma scoffs. "What kind of pathetic attack was that?"

I fire off a few more shots for good measure, even as it becomes apparent just how ineffective they are as Tenma uses his great wings to create a localized windstorm. I manage to, somehow, plant my feet firmly on the ground.

"You are just a _baby_ youkai," he sneers. "Your arrogance is your _death!_, your potential is _wasted!_" He thrusts his hand forward and instead of elegantly dodging the shockwave, I collapse to the floor.

Tenma jumps to where I am and literally crushes my body into the ground. _Ow._ He grabs one of my arms and flings me into the air; I attempt to fire more danmaku but Tenma simply ignores them and does another combination of punches that I can't dodge, especially not with me being in the air.

"Is this all you have, _child?_" Tenma scoffs. "I'll admit, I'm impressed you aren't dead yet, but you really haven't done anything special except fire annoyances and get hit a lot."

"_Shut...up,_" I manage to spit out, getting up slowly and painfully. Tenma comes up from behind me - damn, I should never have turned my back - and picks me up by the neck.

"Foolish child," Tenma growls, and wow, it's actually kind of hot. Wait, no, that's just my brain losing oxygen. Okay, body, you can stop being aroused now. "There was _so much potential_ in you - _wasted_, because of your irritating remarks. I had assumed that you were strong enough to put up a decent fight - I had heard of your battle with the Hakurei shrine maiden, but you... You simply did not hurt me."

Through the pain and blood dripping from my mouth, I grin. "Is..._that_ why...your arm...is twitching?" It was fairly difficult not to notice, how the muscles in his forearm constantly seized as if damaged - he gripped my neck with the same arm, after all. I had known that a few of my danmaku hit the arm, but wasn't aware that it actually did damage.

Tenma scoffs and throws me bodily into the wall of the encampment, blood pooling around me as my body causes cracks in the solid concrete. I kind of just...stare at it, dazed beyond belief, and peripherally aware of Tenma's approaching presence. I was fairly concerned that my blood was everywhere - what kind of guest was I, to bleed all over my host's property? Foolish blood should stay inside the body - but could do nothing.

Tenma picks me up from the arm and was ready to tear it off. I stare back defiantly, but could do nothing else. I dimly realize my body was slowly repairing itself, even as it shut down.

"NO!" Yukari rushes the scene, barriers raised, and Tenma drops me to the floor. Yukari quickly lowers her barriers in response, and rushes to where I am, crouching down to pick me up from the floor.

"It's okay, Kazami," Yukari whispers as she grasps me, steadying my shivering body. "Lord Tenma isn't, exactly, the best opponent for a new youkai like yourself..."

"Yukari," I gasp out, irritated. "Don't patronize me." She lets go of me as I stumble forward, about to collapse, but I re-adjust myself and shamble forward to meet the great tengu's savagely grinning face.

He lazily waves a hand, and the wind picks up from around me. In response, I pick up speed. I would never hit a tengu's top speed, it seems, but I think I'm fast enough to at least surprise one.

Tenma's smirk grows and he raises both hands to conjure a wind storm. I ignore it in favor of pressing on, shambling speed being replaced by a full-on sprint.

I manage to close the distance between us to, maybe, half a meter. The tengu looks amused, and not at all threatened by me.

Big mistake.

I grab the remnants of my energy and shove them forward, in a similar fashion to how Hakurei showed me the danmaku trick. Except, this time, instead of a glowing sphere, an entire laser comes out of my hand. Tenma instantly drops the smirk and attempts to either block or reflect it; in response, I put the last of my lingering energy into the blast, already feeling the sense of consciousness quickly fading, the edges of my eyesight going black.

Through sheer force of will, I ignore it and push gamely onward, only stopping when the great tengu's wings flap mightily and disperse my energy into the winds. Tenma looks at me, furious, but tinged with a hint of respect, and I notice that I manage to disable the use of one of his arms. Despite all of that, though, and a bit of singed feathers, he looks completely unruffled.

I mutter a curse and quickly lose my battle with consciousness.

* * *

><p>The first thing out of Yukari's mouth when she sees me awaken is, "Kazami, you crazy <em>bitch.<em>"

I laugh helplessly at this. What else is there to say? "I lost, anyway."

Yukari gapes at me. "You...seriously don't even know what you did. You stood up to Tenma and nearly defeated him, and you don't even care."

I shrug at this. "I wasn't even close to winning. He had a lot of fight left, in the end."

"Kazami, he passed out shortly after you did."

My grin fades, being replaced by open-mouthed disbelief. "You're _joking._"

Yukari shakes her head. "He was _much_ worse off than he looked. That last thing you did? _Completely fried his systems._ Kazami, how the hell did you do that?"

My disbelief doesn't abate. "I have absolutely no idea."

Yukari blinks. "What?"

"I just made it up on the spot." I look at my hands, covered in bandages and bruised but otherwise alright. I knew they'd heal, given enough time. "I...didn't think it would even _work_, I'd never tested it, Yukari, _I just pulled something out of my ass and it worked._"

Yukari stares at me, and I stare back at her. As if on cue, we both break out into hysterical giggles.


End file.
